WOW: RADIO BARI

“War of Waves”. European Radio Propaganda in the Arab World: the Experience of Radio Bari (1934-43)

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'This project deals with the radio propaganda that Italy, Great Britain, France and Germany carried out in the Arab world between the mid-1930s and the early 1940s. In particular, it focuses on Radio Bari (1934-43), the first radio station to broadcast in Arabic with the purpose of courting the Arabs and challenging the French and British colonial power. This topic has attracted scholarly interest but as of yet has not been addressed thoroughly. My research is the first one to tackle this issue in its entirety, with the aim of shedding light on such a neglected page of history. My project has three main objectives. (I) Reconstructing the main elements of Radio Bari—its structure, its programs, and its main actors—according to two theoretical and historiographical frameworks: the use that the Fascist totalitarian regime made of the instruments of modern propaganda in order to exert its control over the population; the Fascist foreign policy’s employment of a tool of “soft power” aimed at transforming the Mediterranean sea into a mare nostrum and expanding the Italian presence in the Arab world. (II) Exploring Radio Bari as a cultural and transnational experience by examining the Orientalist and anti-Semitic messages in its programs, and by enquiring into what extent it might be considered an example of transnational networking between Europe and the Arab world. (III) Investigating the two phases of the “war of waves”, the first one that took place in 1938-39 and the second one that was waged during WWII. In terms of methodology, being as my research is at the crossroads of different disciplines—history of international relations, cultural history, colonial history, transnational history, history of media—I will employ an interdisciplinary approach. In terms of sources, in addition to existing literature, my research will be based on extensive unpublished documentation from Italian, Vatican, British, French, Moroccan, Israeli, Egyptian, and American archives.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A novel interdisciplinary research project addressed the topic of radio propaganda, focusing on Radio Bari. This was the first radio station to broadcast in Arabic, approaching Arabs and challenging British and French colonial power.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The project '"War of Waves". European radio propaganda in the Arab world: The experience of Radio Bari (1934-43)' (WOW: RADIO BARI) examined propaganda carried out by France, Germany, Great Britain and Italy in the Arab world between the mid-1930s and early-1940s. It drew on disciplines spanning cultural history, colonial history, global and transnational history, history of international relations and history of media.

Project activities included extending methodological and theoretical skills, enhancing expertise in historiography, and extensive reviews from a wide variety of information sources. Project work also involved participation in and presentations at seminars, workshop attendances, and teaching and supervision of PhD students.

On the research front, WOW: RADIO BARI worked on archives during missions in France, Israel and the United Kingdom, as well as four missions in Italy. This enabled amassing a significant amount of sources and reviewing relevant documents. The latter included the entire BBC transcription of Radio Bari news (from 1939 to 1943).

Other documents offered information on Italian propaganda in North Africa and in British Palestine. WOW: RADIO BARI also reviewed files on how British diplomats in the Arab World perceived Radio Bari and its impact on Arab public opinion.

Research outcomes were presented at the 2012 and 2013 Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Conference and at a European University Institute (EUI) seminar in 2013. A book proposal accepted by a leading Italian publishing house dealing with contemporary history is in the works for completion and publication at the end of 2014.

Other publications work included writing for the peer-reviewed online journal Travels to the Holy Land, two articles in the peer-reviewed journals QualeStoria (2012) and The International Spectator (2013), as well as articles in non-peer-reviewed journals.

WOW: RADIO BARI hasadded to knowledge on instruments of modern propaganda and radio broadcasts as a cultural and transnational experience.